As expected, the Pittsburgh Pirates were sellers at Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline by swinging deals that involved a trio of veterans on one-year contracts to contenders for prospects.

Where Pirates general manager Ben Cherington showed restraint was with his biggest trade chips, holding onto a pair of coveted All-Stars in right-handed starter Mitch Keller and closer David Bednar.

There was considerable interest in both Bednar and Keller, as many contenders pursued trades for starting pitching and back-end bullpen help. Word spread throughout the industry that the Pirates were willing to listen to offers, but the price tag would be high.

Now in their fourth season of a total teardown and rebuild, Cherington and manager Derek Shelton are under pressure to win. After a 20-8 start, the Pirates entered Tuesday’s game against Detroit having won 27 of their past 77 games and were 10½ games out of first place in the NL Central and nine games out of a wild-card spot.

“I’ve had a chance to talk with both of those guys over the last few days (and) shared that we fully anticipated we’d get phone calls about them. We did,” Cherington said. “Also shared with them that we’re trying to win here as fast as we possibly can. First priority would be to do that with them on the team. But we have to take the phone calls and listen. That’s part of the job. That happened. When that happens, there’s going to be rumors out there. We just wanted to get ahead of that with them. But they’re Pirates, and we’re excited about that.”

Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds, who signed an eight-year, $106.75 million contract extension in April, expressed excitement that the trade deadline wasn’t as tense for their core players and that Bednar and Keller would remain with the team.

“I think everybody in here wants us to keep them for what they bring to the table on the field and the clubhouse, what they’ll bring the next few years to the team, too,” Reynolds said. “I think you have to listen. They were right in their approach to listen. I would assume they’d have to be really blown away, really, really blown away to trade either of those guys because they know what they mean to us and how respected they are.”

Instead, the Pirates dealt the players who would have become free agents after the season. Left-handed starter Rich Hill and first baseman/designated hitter Ji-Man Choi are now San Diego Padres, as they were traded for left-handed starting pitcher Jackson Wolf, first baseman Alfonso Rivas and 17-year-old outfield prospect Estuar Suero. Catcher Austin Hedges is now with the Texas Rangers, who exchanged 2023-24 international signing bonus pool space.

“We certainly considered a more passive approach and keeping everybody,” Cherington said. “We weighed that versus the opportunity to get some young talent or access to young talent that we didn’t have a week ago, combined with opening up opportunity for some guys who have a chance to be here for a longer period of time.”

The lone surprise was their sending 24-year-old utility infielder Rodolfo Castro to the Philadelphia Phillies, swapped for lefty starter Bailey Falter. The Pirates love Castro’s power potential but had tired of his immaturity issues, his switch-hitting struggles against right-handed pitchers and his error-prone play at shortstop and second base.

The 26-year-old Falter, who was 8-12 with a 4.56 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 50 games (24 starts) over three seasons for the Phillies, could fill Hill’s spot in the starting rotation.

“Falter really is a guy we’ve had our eyes on for a while,” Cherington said. “Left-handed pitcher, strike thrower, deceptive, pitched on a big stage, pitched with a good team, pitched in a tough pitcher’s park in Philly. PNC is a nice park for a lefty with his style. We’ve always kind of felt like he was going to be a good fit for our team and our ballpark and have asked the Phillies about him a number of times over the last couple years. So that was the biggest thing.”

After trading Carlos Santana to Milwaukee on Thursday and Choi to the Padres, the Pirates had a hole at first base. Cherington anticipated that the 26-year-old Rivas, who has slashed .245/.330/.323 in 127 games over three seasons with the Chicago Cubs and Padres, would join the Pirates on their road trip to Milwaukee and split time at first base with Connor Joe. Rivas batted .332/.462/.582 with 19 doubles, nine home runs and 40 RBIs at Triple-A El Paso this year.

“Obviously he’s got a lot of experience,” Cherington said. “He’s a very good defensive first baseman. He’s always hit really well at the Triple-A level.”

Cherington emphasized that the Pirates signed Hedges, Hill and Santana and acquired Choi from Tampa Bay in the hopes that they would help the Pirates improve after back-to-back 100-loss seasons.

“We felt like they could help us get better in 2023. We hoped that would mean we’re having a different conversation today,” Cherington said. “We were having a different conversation in July that we were fighting, in a better position in the division and wild card, and that would have been a different trade deadline. But I shared with all of them my appreciation for them because I do believe we brought them here to help us get better, and I believe we got better, in part because of their contributions on the field and off the field. They did exactly what we hoped all four of them would do. We’ll be rooting for them. They’ll have a chance to play in a playoff chase now.”

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